Evicted: National Building Museum’s immersive exhibition offers intimate, painful look into chronic evictions

“Homes form the building blocks of community life,” said National Building Museum Executive Director Chase Rynd in a statement. “We have to reveal what happens when this stability is threatened, as eviction looms—as well as ways to help stem this crisis.” In order to reveal what chronic evictions look like and how some non-profits and local and state governments are intervening, the National Building Museum is planning a brand new exhibition, called Evicted.

Opening April 14, this exhibition is inspired by Matthew Desmond’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book of the same name. It will present new data developed by Desmond’s Eviction Lab, the first central repository for national eviction data. There will also be audio interviews offered for the public to listen to alongside original photography and infographics. The free exhibition will be open through May 19, 2019.

In a statement, Desmond said, “Until recently, we simply didn’t know how immense this problem was, or how serious the consequences. Eviction does not simply drop poor families into a dark valley, a trying yet relatively brief detour on life’s journey. It fundamentally redirects their way, casting them onto a different and much more difficult path. Eviction is a cause, not just a condition, of poverty.”

According to a press release, more than 11 million Americans are extremely low-income renters, and 75 percent of qualified families do not receive federal housing aid.

To learn more about the National Building Museum’s exhibition, Evicted, go to the official website here.

• Evicted [National Building Museum]